Jason Witten will soon be No. 4 all time in pass receptions

Any NFL fan knows that Cowboys tight end Jason Witten has caught a lot of passes, but many may not realize just how high on the all-time career catches list Witten is.

In fact, within the first couple games of the regular season, Witten is likely to be the No. 4 receiver in NFL history.

Witten currently ranks seventh, with 1,089 career catches. But he’s only 14 catches away from passing three Hall of Famers: No. 6 Tim Brown (who has 1,094 catches), No. 5 Cris Carter (1,101) and No. 4 Marvin Harrison (1,102). If Witten catches passes this season at the same rate he did last season, he’ll move ahead of Harrison and into fourth place all time in Week Four.

Moving into third place is likely out of reach for Witten this year, and possibly out of reach for him ever: Cardinals receiver Larry Fitzgerald is currently No. 3 with 1,125 catches, so Witten needs 37 more catches than Fitzgerald to move into third place all time. Given that Fitzgerald is younger than Witten, and that Fitzgerald led the NFL with 107 catches last season, it’s unlikely that Witten will surpass Fitzgerald’s total.

Witten is probably three or four seasons away from surpassing Tony Gonzalez, the No. 2 all-time receiver and the all-time leader among tight ends, with 1,325. Whether Witten plays long enough to top Gonzalez’s total remains to be seen.

Jerry Rice’s all-time record of 1,549 catches appears safe for many more years.

I would Imagine Fitz could be a lot closer to Jerry if he had Montana/Young caliber QB’s tossing him the rock. Not taking anything away from Jerry at all, I just think Fitz made some pretty good lemonade with those lemons.

imissedreed says:
Jul 10, 2017 12:13 PM
I would Imagine Fitz could be a lot closer to Jerry if he had Montana/Young caliber QB’s tossing him the rock. Not taking anything away from Jerry at all, I just think Fitz made some pretty good lemonade with those lemons

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Fitzgerald has Warner and Palmer for 9 seasons. They’re not exactly Montana/Young, but they’re pretty good.

imsomeguy says:
Jul 10, 2017 11:42 AM
It’s crazy to think that there would be two TEs in the top 4 of all time catches… So many WRs and two TEs are in the top 4…
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I know but you’d think that the same people who want to call out QB’s for being 2 yard – so & so would be all over that stat. I don’t see a lot of deep routes by TEs. But let’s look at Rice.

1. Supporting Cast

Let’s be honest. Jerry Rice was truly blessed throughout his entire career.

Rice had the luxury of playing for two of the five greatest quarterbacks in NFL history: Joe Montana and Steve Young. He also played for Jeff Garcia, a three-time Pro Bowler. And as a member of the Oakland Raiders, he caught passes from Rich Gannon, who captured the 2002 MVP award.

Overall, Rice played 20 seasons in the NFL, during which his quarterbacks went to the Pro Bowl 13 times and earned five—count ’em, FIVE—Most Valuable Player awards.

Rice never played for a quarterback who was anything short of spectacular.

He’s not that great, nor ever has been.
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Witten is not only a stud in this day and age, he would have thrived in the old NFL where it was perfectly acceptable to take a TE’s head off. There a lot of pass catchers in the league who just wouldn’t be durable enough to be effective players. Gronk would never make it. Witten played with a broken jaw wired shut.

Fill up on Haterade if you want, but Witten is going to be a first ballot lock, whether you like it or not.

steelcurtainn says:
and nothing to show for it . . .
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. . . except millions of dollars in his bank account, the pleasant memories of a long and satisfying career doing what he loved, and immortality in Canton to look forward to.

Jason Witten is the poster child that hard work >>> talent. The guy runs a 4.8 40 yard dash, isn’t the biggest TE, isn’t the best blocker and doesn’t have the best hands at his position. He simply gets it done on the field with preparation, work ethic, toughness and sheer will. He’s the anti-Kellen Winslow Jr.

As an Eagles fan, I got nothin but love for Whitten….was at the game last year at Jerry World, watched him break open, ball game in OT. I hate the Cowboys…..but Whitten should be in HOF chat once it is all done

Witten has been as valuable and reliable as Jay Novacek once was, but over a longer period. He’s a great player and a credit to the league, anyone saying otherwise is just trying to rile up Dallas fans. I hate the Cowboys and most of their scumbag players but Witten is A-OK.

Mr. Witten has been a great player for Dallas. I don’t see him playing more than 32 games going forward. So, if records are to be broken, then, he needs to do it as posted. The young are all looking for trophy placement when playing against him. I’m not talking in a positive way. The young are looking to retire him quickly. He is a very durable player but, defenders are getting quicker and bigger. Delivering blows that level even the young. Best of Luck Old Man, break all their backs.

The Cowboys used to have another great TE that probably would have gone onto great things had he never gotten injured and before Witten’s time.

Jay Novacek. He also never disappeared in the big games.

To me, Witten is like my home team’s baseball HOF’er Cal Ripken Jr.

Cal accomplished great things because he worked harder than anyone else. He played tons of games. He wasn’t the best defender at SS, that title probably needs to go to The Wizard of Oz, Ozzie Smith of his era. Cal probably had one of the strongest arms, but he studied positioning so that he was always able to make the play to make up for his lack of range.

At the plate he was nothing special compared to premium hitters in his era. He put up 20HR or so a year for most of his career which was amazing output for a SS, but for a hitter overall that was passe. He only hit for high average a couple of times in his career.

Good luck to Witten and I hope he gets to play as long as he likes and to walk away from the game on his terms.